Tailed frog amplexus is inguinal - the male clasps the female around her pelvis, unlike most of our frogs which use axial amplexus - the male grasps the female around her forelimbs.

Pupil is vertical

The "Tail" or Male Copulatory Organ

Adult male Coastal Tailed Frog showing his tail-like copulatory organ. This organ, an extension of the cloaca, is used to transfer sperm into the female's cloaca during amplexus. She then holds the fertilized eggs for 9 or 10 months when she swims under a large stone on the bottom of a fast-moving creek and attaches the eggs
to the bottom of the stone. This internal fertilization strategy lets tailed frogs breed in fast-moving water without the eggs washing away, which would happen if they were laid and fertilized on the surface of the water.

Most tadpoles have mouths at the front of the head, but the mouth of a Coastal Tailed Frog tadpole is underneath the head, which is flattened. The mouth position and head shape, along with specialized folds that create suction, help a tadpole cling to a rock surface while keeping its body close to the rock. This allows it to scrape food off the surface of underwater rocks in fast-moving creeks without letting the swift current wash it downstream.

Habitat

Habitat, Pacific County, Washington

Habitat, Multnomah County, Oregon

Habitat, Multnomah County, Oregon

Habitat, Multnomah County, Oregon

Short Videos

Several views of a male Coastal Tailed Frog at a small forested creek in the Oregon Cascade Mountains.

A Coastal Tailed Frog tadpole forages on the rocks of a small pool in a small creek in the Oregon Cascade Mountains. You can see its unique sucker-like mouth working from the other side of a piece of glass.